Never Let Go
by Page1229
Summary: Isamu and Chie are two demons who were captured and taken to a facility to have experiments performed on them. When the Yu Yu Gang rescues them, Chie is left weak and Isamu becomes more convinced that humans are scum. As Chie recovers, the demonic siblings are forced to stay in living world. But there are questions still left unanswered. Rated T but with strong language.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Don't own anything but the OCs.

Never Let Go

My bare back was pressed against the cold steel with the bright lights overhead blinding me. The low buzz would have driven me crazy except there were more pressing matters that captured my attention; for example, the psychos that loomed above me poking, prodding, and slicing into me like I was a lump of meat. I could not feel them because of the anesthesia but that did not make it in the least bit bare able. My body was already covered in scars from their "examinations". If I was free, I would have killed these bastards a long time ago. But I was not free and the chances I would be kept growing fainter and fainter. One thought kept me going, 'At least they won't hurt Chie.' The very idea of them performing these same acts on my sister would make me buck off the table and force them to increase the numbing agent. 'Damn you!' I would scream in my head.

Ever since the Kekkai Barrier was taken down everything seemed good. Demons were allowed to go to the human world as long as they did not cause trouble. Chie had always been curious about humans, so she begged me to take her to Ningenkai. How could I say no? I did at first, but she has always been persistent and continued heckling me. "Please, brother," she looked up at me with her hazel eyes. "I won't stop bugging you until you say yes," she threatened for the fiftieth time. I sighed and finally caved in, "Okay."

We were perfect targets: forest demons are rare and powerful creatures. Chie and I could not help the greenish tint in our skin pigment, but most humans thought we just had some strange form of vitamin deficiency. Humans who were aware of demons kept their distance. One day when we were walking around in one of the cities, Chie wanted to make a quick run to one of the convenience stores while I looked over our map. I heard a scream and looked up to see a man grabbing my sister. I saw red as I charged at him. I reached them when I felt a sharp pain in the back of my head and my sight went black.

They told me if I did not cooperate, then they would perform experiments on Chie. Some part of me knew they had to have been lying and were probably already hurting her, but I could not in good conscience risk that so I cooperated like I was their dog.


	2. Chapter 2

"Don't look Chie," I ordered as I buried her face into my chest. The fire was all consuming, devouring every shred of our childhood.

"Isamu," she sobbed. "Where is everyone?"

"Sh, don't worry about that. We need to leave." I began to guide her out of the forest. I was only eleven years old and Chie was eight. Our entire world was burning and I knew no one else was alive, including our parents. Forest demons are meant to live in the woods but I always thought that was stupid because of things like this.

I had heard screaming before Chie showed up from her walk. I had been doing my chores and one had required me to walk out into the forest away from the village to gather plants. Chie was panicking because she had smelt smoke. Holding her hand, we ran back home to find it was ablaze.

"Stay here," I ordered. I ran through the back door, calling for our parents. The fire kept me restricted to the bottom floor of the house, the stairs had already collapsed.

"Mom! Dad!" I called. It was not long before I was coughing and choking on the smoke. I heard someone yell my name. I looked into my dad's study, which had been blocked by a beam, to see my dad on the floor and my mom standing next to him. He was not moving.

"Isamu," mom got as close to me as the fire would permit. "Get out of here son. Take your sister and go!"

"But-"

"No, listen to me: your father is dead," her voice cracked at the revelation. "And there is no way to save me. Please son, no parent wants their child to die no matter what. Take Chie and run to safety." Tears were pouring down her face. My mother had always been a strong woman, but her tears betrayed her fear.

I reached over the beam and she grabbed my hand and kissed it. "I love you mom."

"I love you too. And tell Chie I love her. And the same for your father. Now go!" She let my hand go.

—

I was back in the small room they provided for me, almost a hundred years after the fire. I had to be placed on my bed because I was still too numb and I drifted to sleep. I rarely dream but this time I had a memory of when Chie and I first learned how to use our powers. Our parents had taken us out into a field to provide as much space as possible. Dad showed us how to use plants as weapons and mom demonstrated how to make them follow our bidding. Spirit animals are able to do these techniques but it takes them years where it only takes forest demons a shorter amount of time. Chie was never one for violence, but she learned how to defend herself for all of our sakes.

An explosion shook me awake, the entire building was rumbling. I sat up on my cot and ran to the door. It had a small window so I could look out into the hallway. I did not see anyone but I started hearing voices.

"Damn it Urameshi," a burly voice shouted. "Warn us next time you decide to use your Spirit Gun!"

"We're in aren't we?" another male replied, laughter in his voice.

"Yes well, there goes the element of surprise," a more formal voice said.

"Idiot," a quiet voice insulted.

"You guys think you can do a better job, go ahead," the second man barked.

"Hn, watch and learn detective." It sounded like wind was blowing down the hall and I saw a black blur pass by my cell as my door, and all the other doors, opened.

"How the hell did you do that?" the second man asked.

The quiet voice was now on the opposite end of the hall. "I snatched the key from one of the guards you carelessly disregarded."

I walked out of my cell with caution. This was weird, too weird to be really happening.

"Hey, we've got a walker," the second man informed when he spotted me. I looked at him and saw he looked human. He had black hair that was slicked back and brown eyes. A large man with orange hair and beady eyes was standing next to him along with someone I was not sure if they were a man or a woman. They had long red hair and green eyes. It was not until they spoke that I became sure of the gender.

"He's the only one in here that has responded." Yeah, it was a guy. "Hiei," he called down the hall. "Start checking rooms on your end." There was not an answer but all of them began to search.

"So what's your name man?" the brown eyed man asked as he walked up to me.

"I... Isamu," I croaked. It had been a while since I last spoke.

"Yusuke," he offered his hand. I pulled back a little, humans were the reason I was here and did not know where Chie was. He noticed my reaction. "Hey man, I'm here to help."

"You wanna help?" I challenged. "My sister is somewhere in this shit hole, help me find her."

Yusuke put his hands up in a defensive way. "Okay, just calm down. Where is she?"

"Were you not listening: I don't know." I had not voiced any of my worries and now it was starting to show in my tone. Chie was all I had left, I could not abandon her.

"All of the other subjects are either drugged or..." the fem guy explained as he approached us. He turned to me. "What have they been doing here?"

"Experiments, what else? Does that matter now?"

He maintained a calm expression despite my annoyance. "We need to make sure this is not something they would try to pick up somewhere else. What sort of experiments?"

"How the fuck should I know? All they did was place me on a table and take samples."

He indicated my bare chest. "Evidence suggests otherwise, or did you have those prior?"

I shook my head. I looked at Yusuke. "Are we going to look for my sister or not?"

"Yeah, Kurama lay off him. You can ask questions later, we need to find everyone who is still alive and get them out."

"Very little hope for that," a short black haired demon answered. "I've found nothing but bodies."

My heart started racing at that. Before I knew what I was doing or where I was going, I was running down the hall. "Chie! CHIE!" I shouted.


	3. Chapter 3

I heard the men running after me. It was obvious they were not trying to stop me, the short guy seemed to be the fastest so if he wanted to stop me he could have. I think they were just following me. I desperately tried to pick up on Chie's youki but I started to panic and could not focus. 'No,' I thought. 'Please be okay, Chie. You're stronger than this. Please be okay.'

"CHIE!" I continued shouting, my throat getting scratched from the exertion and I could not remember the last time I had a drink.

I ran into a part of the complex where the group had not been yet, there were guards and doctors still around. Before I could stop to cause any damage, the guys following me got in front of me and started attacking the guards. The doctors scattered and tried to alert the guards from other parts of the complex but this must have been the only part these guys had not covered because there was no response from the intercoms.

I recognized one of the doctors: Dr. Narita, the bastard who ran this thing. He attended my examination personally and even starting interrogating me himself after the procedures. I hated this guy with a passion; if anyone knew where Chie was, it was him. I grabbed his coat and slammed him against the wall.

"Where is she?" I demanded, getting in the man's face. He had large spectacles and wrinkles, typical image of a grandfather but I bet this bastard hated kids.

"Isamu," he said with a twisted grin. "So you finally got the help you cried so desperately for during our past sessions." I growled and slammed him against the wall. They always gave me a drug that made me spill my guts, kind of like a truth serum but it caused pain upon ingestion. Their reason was that demons did not respond to any other kind of serum. This guy was a sadist and he made me sick.

"Where is she?" I whispered, being close enough to him. "What have you done with her?"

He continued to smirk. "In my personal lab, not that it makes much difference. She'll never be the same."

"What did you do to HER?!"

"See for yourself." He looked over my shoulder across the hall to his lab.

The large man came up to me. "I'll take him." I looked in his eyes, there was nothing but sympathy. I wanted to be angry but Chie was the main focus right now. I dropped Dr. Narita and turned. The door was unlocked and the lights were still on. When I walked in, I saw there were doctors hovering over a girl on a steel table. 'Outside looking in,' I thought. My anger rose to a peak I did not think possible, my aura flared and caused the lights to burn out.

"GET AWAY FROM HER!" I shouted. I walked forward and saw the silhouettes back up from the table. I picked her up in my arms and took her out into the hall where there was still light. She looked so weak, her mint colored skin had drained into a light grey. Her brown hair was matted and greasy. Her breathing was shallow.

"Chie, it's me Isamu," I whispered. She stirred but did not open her eyes.

I looked at the doctor. "You motherfucker! What did you do?"

"Now that would be revealing secrets," he replied smugly.

"Isamu," Chie whimpered in my arms, her eyes still closed. She placed a hand on my face. "Don't lose control."


	4. Chapter 4

I always had bit of temper. When I was a kid, I could not play fight without it turning serious. Chie has always been my means to stay calm, she would touch me and say soothing words like "It will all be fine" and "Calm, brother". She was my crutch, I admit that, but she was everything that I thought was good. Chie was gentle, sweet, and was always the one to think before acting. Sometimes I felt she should have been the older sibling but moments like this, being in a hospital in Reikai, she seemed so small.

I kept to myself, sitting silently next to her bed. I did not move or eat or sleep; I needed to know that Chie would be fine. The doctor told me she would take a while to fully recuperate but I did not care how long I had to wait.

"Isamu," she whispered after hours of silence.

"I'm here," I said as I grabbed her hand.

She opened her eyes slowly. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"I'm not the one in the hospital bed." She became confused when I mentioned hospital. "We're in Reikai, Chie. We're free." I had not acknowledged this fact until I spoke the words. 'Free,' I thought. I had not realized how fragile that concept was; we were free before and then we were not.

Chie tried to pull herself up into a sitting position but she grimaced in pain. I gently grabbed her shoulders and pulled her forward so I could prop her pillow up then lie her back down. "Thank you." Her eyes were soft and unfocused.

I was going to ask what was wrong when the door opened and the doctor walked in. I could not remember her name but she was a spirit with dark purple hair and blue eyes.

"You're awake. How are you feeling?" She was so formal it almost made me bark at her.

"I'm fine," Chie answered.

"Be honest Chie," I prompted. "She's here to help." I swallowed the bile in my throat. 'Damn spirits, damn doctors.'

"Your brother is right Chie, you need to tell me if anything is wrong." She was sooo sympathetic. 'Condescending bitch.' Spirits and demons never mix company for a reason: spirits treat us like shit.

"Well," Chie began, playing with her pinkie finger; it was a habit she never broke since we were kids. "I think I have a migraine but I'm not sure, I've never had one."

"What hurts exactly?" The doctor brought up a clipboard.

"Both my temples and a little behind my eyes." Bless Chie, she never lets people get to her.

Doctor What's-her-name scribbled on her clipboard. She approached the bed and brought out a flashlight. "Follow the light," she instructed. Chie winced as the beam hit her already aching eye. Doc scribbled more on her board. "I might need to run some tests. What sort of experiments did Narita perform?"

Chie hesitated, throwing me a worried look. "It's okay Chie." I grabbed her hand and rubbed the palm with my thumb.

She bit her lip and turned back to the doctor. The story that she told had me stomping out of the room so I could get air.

'That bastard,' I raged in my mind. I stood next to an open window and tried breathing calmly like Chie showed me once. 'If I every see his face again...' Chie explained that Narita had set her aside for "special sessions". Narita administered drugs and various other toxins into her system and he would observe the effects. She was not sure why she was singled out but she was sure she was not the first "patient" that endured this sort of treatment. Sometimes Chie would hear some of the doctors who thought she was under talk about previous subjects that did not make it.

"Hey man," I heard a familiar voice call behind me. I turned and saw Yusuke and his group walking down the hall. There was blue haired girl with them this time. Yusuke clapped a hand on my shoulder but I shrugged it off. "How's your sis?"

"Peachy," I grumbled.

"That bad huh?"

"You have no fucking idea." I turned back to the window and continued my breathing exercise. I was still seeing red but I at least had a grip on the situation. 'Keep breathing, in out in out in out.'

"Well if it helps, that dick head doctor is getting sent to Limbo for a few centuries before getting his ass kicked to Hell." I grunted in reply. "You guys gonna be okay after this?"

I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Will you stop acting like you care?" I glared at the other man.

The large guy stepped forward. "Geez calm down, Urameshi is just trying to help." I did not like how close he was getting.

"Get out of my face," I seethed. I squared my shoulders and balled up my fists.

"Oh no," the blue haired girl got between us. "No fighting boys, this is place of healing after all. And I think you've all had too many visits here already."

I rolled my eyes and turned back to the window. 'In out in out.'


	5. Chapter 5

Isamu finally walked back into my room and found the group that helped us escape were surrounding my bed. He brushed his shoulder-length black hair behind his ear and sat down in the chair at the foot of my bed.

"Hello brother," I said as cheerfully as possible. My head still ached despite the pain killers. Isamu shot me a small grin which I returned wholeheartedly. His smile always put me at ease.

"Are you alright now?" the blue haired girl named Botan asked my brother. He answered with a glare. "I swear, you're worse than Hiei." The short man looked at her briefly then back to the wall.

"We were thinking you should stay at Genkai's temple for a bit," the beautiful man named Kurama continued our previous conversation. He had such a gorgeous pair of eyes that reminded me of our home. "It's a bit of a safe haven for demons who visit Ningenkai; a friend of ours, an ice apparition, already lives there. I'm sure she and Genkai will make you two feel more than welcome."

Isamu picked up on the subject. "No, we're leaving as soon as possible. Human world can burn for all I care, we are going home."

"Brother," I replied gently. "We have no home and I want to stay in Ningenkai a little longer."

"Fuck that," he responded, his voice rising. "We just got out of a shit hole where humans experimented on us. We're leaving." His last words acted as an end to the conversation; or at least that was the intention.

"You're crazy," Yusuke said. "Your sister is gonna take a while to heal and if I remember right, demons enjoy weak prey. She'll be a target as soon as you pass the border."

"I'd like to see one of them try." Isamu's blue eyes flashed.

The large man named Kuwabara stepped in. "Come on man, we're trying to help. Don't leave just because of one bad experience."

My brother stood up, his rage practically engulfing him. I never liked when this happened, he was always quick to anger and sometimes it would be hard to calm him down. My heart rate monitor started going off. "One bad experience? Look at what that piece of shit did to MY SISTER!"

"Isamu," I pleaded, trying to slow my pulse so the nurses would not have to be called in. "He did not mean it like that and please keep your voice down!"

"In what other way could he have meant it? Humans and spirits alike treat us like garbage: calling what we went through 'a bad experience' is like saying cancer is 'just a bug'. I'm tired of this shit."

"Breath, brother. Try to breath," I instructed while doing the same thing. He inhaled slowly through his mouth and exhaled through his nose. The red in his mossy cheeks stared to fade. My monitor started beeping normally. "You know their right, I can't return to Makai like this and we won't be going anywhere besides the temple. I don't want to leave yet."

"But what if more people like Narita come after you?" Isamu's fists were still clenched.

"Don't worry," Yusuke spoke up. "Grandma lives out in the ass end of nowhere. No one besides us knows where it is."

Isamu still looked unconvinced. I gave him my wide eyed stare that I use to convey sincerity and to try and get my way. I was selfish in wanting to visit the human world and it caused nothing but pain for both Isamu and myself. I wanted to stay to try and get my brother to see the humans as I do: beings that are not too different from us who have learned to overcome their weaknesses. "Please brother, pretty please."

He looked into my eyes and I saw him try to resist but eventually he caved. He always caved. He threw his hands up in the air with an exasperated sigh. "Fine."


	6. Chapter 6

"What the hell is that thing?" Isamu was dumbfounded by a large blue beast that resembled a phoenix. I was little confused myself but I kept my mouth shut so as not to be rude, Isamu had already accomplished that task.

"That's Puu," Yusuke explained, walking forward to stroke the beast's head. "He's my spirit beast, my inner self I guess. He guards the temple whenever we're gone. Can't trust Grandma to keep this place secure."

"I heard that, dumbass," a grouchy voice spoke from the doorway of the temple. "For that, you can pick up the presents he's been leaving all over the place." An old woman that seemed to be half my height was standing next to an ice apparition that was only a few inches taller than her. Genkai and Yukina, more likely.

Kuwabara perked up. "Hey Yukina, did you miss me?" He ran over to ice apparition and took both of her hands into his. It was kind of funny seeing such a large man standing next to a tiny girl, he looked like a giant and she looked like a doll.

Genkai walked over to the Spirit Detective. "So who are these two?" She looked over at Isamu and me.

"That's Isamu and his little sister Chie. They ran into some trouble and now they need to stay here while Chie recuperates."

"I hope you don't expect this to be a free stay."

Isamu answered. "What do you mean? These guys told us you would take us in. We can't return to Makai until Chie is better."

"I wasn't talking about her, I was talking about you. She's weak, a blind man could see that, but you're in perfect health. So if you want to stay here, I need you to work" Her face was expressionless but I could tell she was waiting for my brother to refuse. Something about her made me think she did not hold very high expectations for strangers. And why should she? We just met her, she had no idea who we were or what we could do.

"Alright," he responded a bit hesitantly. "What do need me to do?"

"I'll have a list for you tomorrow. Right now, you should take your sister inside." Yukina walked up to us then. "Follow me." Her voice was small and sweet.

Isamu had his right arm around me while I had my left arm over his shoulder so he could support me. Walking up the long staircase that led to the temple had exhausted me since I insisted on walking unaided. About halfway up, I was on my knees gasping for air. I noticed Kurama wanted to help but Isamu shot him a glare that made him back off.

When we entered the temple, both my brother and me could not help but stop and look around. There was large statue of a deity opposite of the entrance, candles positioned at the foot of it and stands with candles leading all the way to it. Yukina turned around when she heard us stop and gave us a concerned look. "Is everything okay?"

Isamu nodded, lost in thought. I answered. "We've never been inside a temple before. We didn't know it could be this..." I trailed off, unable to finish.

Yukina nodded in understanding. "Makai doesn't have a lot of temples. This is the second one I've been in and it's in better shape than the first."

"I always thought the ice maidens had pride in their temples," Isamu said.

"We did once but that was before my time. Now only the Elders worship and assign priestesses. I was meant to be one when my one hundredth year came."

"Do you regret leaving?" Isamu asked.

Yukina shook her head and smiled. "No, I enjoy Ningenkai and I love everyone here."

My brother's eyebrow twitched in annoyance. "Can you just take us to Chie's room now?"

"Isamu," I chastised. I saw Yukina seemed hurt by his abrupt change before she adopted a cold, emotionless state. She wordlessly signaled us to follow.

She led us to a small room with two bedrolls on the floor. There was an open window that looked out into the garden. "I thought you feel better if you had a good view of the garden," she offered timidly, her hurt feelings seemingly vanished.

Isamu lowered me down onto the bedroll closest to the window. "Thank you, Yukina," I replied, giving her a smile. "We really appreciate the thought."

"Being as close to nature as we already are here," Isamu explained. "Chie should feel better in no time. We draw strength from the surrounding environment, part of the reason I hate cities."

Yukina nodded. "Let me know if you need anything. I'll be outside finishing chores." And with that, she left.

I shifted around on the bedroll until I was facing the window. Isamu leaned against the frame and took in the fresh air. "I like this place."

"Of course you would." He closed his eyes and let the wind toss his hair around.

"You need to give these people a chance. They only want to help and it's obvious they're trying to build a bridge between humans and demons."

"They can try but it won't happen."

"You know Yusuke is a half demon?" He looked at me then. "His very existence proves otherwise. If anyone can improve the relationship between the two species, it's him. He already has a mixed group of humans, demons, and even that spirit Botan."

"You're too optimistic. As long as there are strong demons like Yomi and Mukuro who need to feed on humans, there won't be a truce."

"There are many ways to solve that problem, brother. There is always a peaceful solution."

"Sure," he answered sarcastically. "Just like there's always a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. You have so much faith in humans, it's blinded you. Even after all we've been through, you still don't think humans are capable of doing horrible things."

"I never said that."

"You didn't have to. We stick to our own kind because they don't treat us like animals. If another demon attacks us, they attack because they see us as a potential threat."

"How is that not like being treated like an animal? Humans fear animals that threaten their survival."

"We don't skin our enemy and show it off like a trophy."

"No, but we fight each other to see who is the strongest and wear our victories like medals. I don't like our kind, brother. To be honest, I loathe demons and everything about us. I have very few exceptions: you, mother, father, Yukina, and Kurama."

He scoffed at that. "Kurama? He's not a demon, Chie. Not anymore."

"He used to be and that's what matters. He learned to feel compassion just like humans. Demons never change, we'll just keep fighting and breeding until all intelligence disappears and we become animals."

"So what? You wanna be a human?"

I shook my head. "I'm too much of an animal for that."

"And you don't think I'm an animal?"

"I know you're violent and irrational sometimes. But underneath it all, you do it because you care for me and don't want anything to happen."

Isamu's eyes darkened and he walked to the door. Without turning, he said, "And look how well that turned out."


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Sorry it took so long to update. I have most of the chapters written, I've just been busy with school. I'll try to have what I've got posted before summer break.

Chie's PoV

My breath was visible in the cold morning air, my body trembling. There was blood on my hands. Isamu had left me alone to try and hunt for supplies. The moment he did though, a part of me snapped. I realized we were just a couple of kids running around in the woods. Without a home, without a family, without anything.

A lone demon had sensed my presence and entered the clearing to try and take advantage of my defenseless state. He came at the worst time, when my mind had just processed our situation. Without thinking, I grabbed the demon's head and twisted it until his neck snapped. But it did not stop there. I took the dagger Isamu had left me with and started carving into the beast. Had he still been alive, I had no doubt his screams would have pierced my eardrums but somehow I knew it would not have stopped me. I was not thinking at that point, instinct drove me. I was just another animal. Tearing into the poor creature's body, removing his insides for some unknown purpose. I was probably trying to make him as empty as I felt.

By the time I snapped back to reality, I was disturbed by what I had done. I remembered the whole process I took and a part of me felt pleasure at another's expense. It was a small part that I hoped would never reemerge.

I was wrong. When Narita captured me and my brother, he placed me in a room with another demon. He wanted to see who would be the stronger subject. I won. And I did exactly what I had done before, except there was no knife. My nails were broken and caked with blood. The doctors watched my process without interrupting, they seemed pleased.

—

Isamu's PoV

"You have to be freaking kidding me?!" I stared in disbelief at the list the old woman handed to me. "You want me to climb all the way up a mountain to pick a berry?! Have you gone senile?!"

"Stop whining, you big crybaby." Genkai sat on a her porch with an indifferent look, sipping a cup of tea. "Yukina has been wanting to make a special jam for a while but no one sticks around long enough for her to ask. Besides, this starts off your living here for free business nicely. Pretty soon, you'll be somewhat useful." Her slurping sounds were getting on my nerves.

Chie was in the garden with Yukina, probably talking about the great things humans do. The entire gang was already gone, but I could feel the short one hanging around in the woods and the ice maiden said Kuwabara would visit near the end of the day. Well, the human I could care less about but Hiei's presence in the wilderness I was about to go into kind of made me uneasy. He hardly spoke and the glares he cast anyone who happened to be annoying at the time sent chills down my spine. Hopefully, hunting was not one of his favorite hobbies.

"Is there something else? Or are you gonna gawk around and make your trip at the last minute? I'm going to give you one warning: don't go into the forest at night. There are some old demons still living in those woods." How kind of her to care.

"I was waiting for you to tell me what this berry looks like. It doesn't say on the list."

"How should I know? Go ask Yukina, she wants the thing so damn much."

I sighed, rubbing my temples and walking around the compound until I was at the garden. Chie was sitting against a tree, talking to Yukina while the koorime pulled weeds out of the garden. "Yukina," I sighed in frustration, fighting off a headache. "Genkai has me going after some berry she said you wanted. What does it look like?"

The girl stood up, wiping dirt off her kimono and walked right up to me. I froze, ready for an attack when she lifted her heads and barely grazed my forehead. A blue aura emerged from her palm and I began to feel the pain in my head recede. "Thanks," I muttered.

"You're welcome," she said brightly. "The berry you're looking for has four leaves at the stem, each shaped like a heart. The berry itself is about the size of a bird's egg and is light blue."

"Sounds weird." She just nodded and walked to the side of the building. She picked up a pack and handed it to me.

"The trip there is going to be long, you'll be gone almost all day. I packed you a lunch and some snacks so you won't lose your strength." Yukina turned and pointed at the mountain behind the hill the temple rested on. The mere thought of climbing it made me feel exhausted. "You shouldn't lose your way, the mountain is very close. But there are a few monsters there, so be careful."

"Careful is my middle name." I shouldered the pack and started down the trail behind the temple. Chie yelled, "Good luck." I waved over my shoulder. This was going to suck.


	8. Chapter 8

I was not even half way up the mountain before I felt winded. I was out of shape, it had been around fifty years since the last time I had to climb a mountain. The whole time, I kept feeling the short guy's youki but I never saw him.

I leaned up against a tree to catch my breath when I heard a voice above me. "How pathetic." I looked up and, sure enough, the short guy was there. I had a hard time remembering his name. Funny, considering I was sort of afraid of him.

"What?"

"You can't even climb a mountain. You are as weak as you look." His crimson eyes were mocking. He looked so proud perched on that branch; he might have had some sort of inferiority complex, I mean he was the shortest in the group.

"I was just stopping to get my second wind," I explained. He raised an eyebrow at me. I placed my palm against the side of the tree I was leaning on and felt the energy within its roots.

I could feel him staring at me, but I was too far gone to really care. I immersed myself deep within the tree and became one with it. I sensed every creature that dwelt within it, from the tiny organisms in the dirt to the birds that nested in its branches to even the little demon that stood on one of its branches. Weird, I hardly felt him on the tree. I mean I knew he was there, I could sense his youki through the tree and my body but as the tree, I could barely feel him physically on one of my branches. Man this guy was small, how much did he weigh?

I shook my head, trying to focus on the task at hand. This tree was old and filled with energy. As I explained before to Yukina, forest demons draw strength from our surroundings. What I neglected to explain was that we could immerse ourselves into nature. Chie used to do it all the time when we were kids, getting lost in the trees and flowers until she started to melt into them. It is dangerous for us to get too attached to any sort of flora because if we are not careful we could become a part of it forever. That is how most of our elders spend the rest of their days while the others die peacefully.

As I opened my eyes, I noticed the short guy was gone. Apparently, he left when I had started melting into the tree a little without noticing his departure.

"Over here," his voice was right behind me. I jumped; the freak was quick and quiet, a bad combination. "If you're going further into the woods, I suggest following the path." He pointed at a dirt road a couple of feet to our left. "There are old demons in here that even a forest demon might have trouble with."

"So what are you doing out here?" I asked, not really caring just wanting to get a clue of what this guy was about.

"None of your business." And he was gone again, this time for real. I could not sense his youki.

I turned to the path and started up it. The energy from the tree put a new spring in my step.


End file.
